Conspirator of USS Cole attack freed from prison

Jamal al-Bedawi, one of the planners of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17 AmericanNavy personnel and injured 39 others in Yemen, has been freed from a prison in Sanaá, the capital of Yemen after he "pleaded allegiance" to the president of the country, and will be kept under house arrest with extreme security.

Al-Bedawi, who was serving a death sentence for his role in the attack, escaped from a Yemeni prison in February of 2006 along with another plotter of the attack, Fawaz al-Rabeiee, who has yet to be captured. Al-Bedawi turned himself in to authorities just over two weeks ago. 21 other militants, 13 of which who were members of al-Qaeda, also escaped from the prison.

United States officials have described the move as "disappointing." "This action is inconsistent with a deepening of our bilateral counter-terrorism co-operation. We have communicated our displeasure to Yemeni officials," said a U.S. National Security Council spokesman.

There has been no official information has yet to be released to the press about the decision or the conditions of al-Bedawi's release.

Yemen denied on Sunday media reports that a man convicted over the al Qaeda bombing of the U.S. Navy ship Cole in 2000 had been set free.

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.